Alembic to foray into US, European markets

The 100-year-old Alembic, one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in India, plans to enter the regulated US and European markets in a big way, with a target of an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore within three to five years.

The company has already filed six abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The US regulator has already inspected its formulation and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or bulk drug manufacturing facilities in Baroda, said Pranav Amin, director, Alembic.

"Though our entry into the US and Europe market was a bit late, we plan to aggressively tap these markets in the coming years. We will file an average 10 drug master files (DMF) and 10 ANDAs with the regulatory agency in the US, every year," he said.

Pranav is the eldest son of Chirayu C Amin, chairman and managing director of the Rs 750 crore plus Alembic (for the nine months ended December 2007). It was started in 1907 in Baroda as Alembic Chemical Works and manufactured cough syrups, tinctures and alcohol.

The strategy for the US and Europe will be to rope in marketing alliances with leading multinational pharmaceutical companies. Alembic has already signed two to three strategic partnerships for the US market, he said.

Alembic, which acquired the oncology business of Dabur Pharma, last year, is also looking at acquiring brands or marketing facilities in the domestic market, Amin said.

The acquisition helped Alembic, a predominant chronic therapy drug manufacturer, to foray into lifestyle diseases with a portfolio of 24 brands and a marketing force of 400 people.

Currently, Alembic is re-organising the business of the acquired assets, including plans of own manufacturing at Alembic sites in future, he said.

Pranav said the company will set up two new units, a greenfield manufacturing facility at Sikkim with an investment of Rs 20-25 crore for the domestic formulation business and another API facility at Baroda with an investment of Rs 15 crore.

Alembic, which has about seven products in the top drug brands in India with a turnover of more than Rs 10 crore per year, plans to tap the potential in the rural markets. The company will launch at least 20-30 new brands every year in the domestic market, he said.

Its lead brands such as an erythromycin pain killer Althrocin with sales worth Rs 66.70 crore, Roxid (Roxithromycin) with Rs 60.13 crore and anti-infection drug Azithral with Rs 47.21 crore in 2006-07 are among the top-selling drugs in the domestic market.